


In your head

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck, Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-26
Updated: 2014-10-26
Packaged: 2018-02-22 17:01:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2515124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Living Dirk Strider's memories was oddly peaceful, but they always gave Roxy a twisty feeling in her gut and she could never decide whether it was good or bad. Experiencing Roxy's was another story altogether. They made Dirk angry, indignant, and he admired Roxy all the more for her strength.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In your head

**Author's Note:**

> Oh lord pls forgive me for this.

Valiant Rogue  
Right hook. Left hook. Right hook. Step on the abdomen.   
Sifting through Dirk's memories was oddly peaceful. There was the face of his bro, Dirk's own tiny expression of glee reflected in the aviators he never took off. As memories drifted on, his expression would become more solemn, the emotion would lessen, but Roxy could still feel the love there. The admiration and respect, even as she felt every parry and block and hit. Experiencing Roxy's was another story all together. Roxy's face was reflected in her computer screen, or a glass filled with amber liquid, or a scattering of empty liquor bottles. Her mother hardly ever featured, and when she did she was walking out a door. Walking away.   
Engage left flank weapons. Lock on target. Fire.  
Roxy's memories made Dirk angry. Indignant. He'd hated Roxy's mother for leaving her, and admired Roxy all the more for her strength. His pride for the girl grew each time they drifted. Dirk's gave Roxy a kind of twisty feeling in her gut, and she could never decide whether it was good or bad. Dirk's bro hadn't raised a good man, but Roxy could see the part of him that wanted to be good. There was no doubt in her mind that he'd always be there to protect her, as long as he didn't have to protect her from himself. They'd both long since grown used to the emotions that came along with living each other's lives, used it as a fuel to push them through the fight.   
Direct hit. Throw another punch. Throw another kick... and it's finished.  
Roxy looked to Dirk and grinned. She'd always give him a smile like that after a fight. It was one that said 'We're okay. We did it.' Dirk looked back with the same expression he always wore, one guarded by the anonymity of his shades, and despite that his face rarely changed, just the sight of her made him feel proud and brought the ghost of a smile to his lips. He was brother to billionaire film maker Dave Strider. He didn't have to lift a finger if he didn't want to, he could live out his life without a worry in the world. But here he was, risking his life so the general populace might live to see another day. She was the daughter of world renown author, Rosalyn Lalonde. Also filthy rich by way of family, and though the pair were distant she'd always make sure to keep Roxy's bank account full with more than enough, but this one preferred to work for her keep. She'd donate the majority of what her mother gave her.   
Dirk Strider. Roxy Lalonde. Drift compatible.   
The Kaiju went down with barely any collateral damage. That was their specialty; keep everyone safe at all costs, and there was no pair of pilots who did it better. The Valiant Rogue was counted among the best in the business. It's pilots had almost perfect simulator scores, with one hundred drops and 94 kills between them, there was hardly a Kaiju they couldn't take down as a team. They returned to cheers and pats on the back, the whole fanfare. Good job, team. Crisis averted. They'd grown used to this kind of welcome home. Roxy would smile and be polite to an extent, Dirk would do no such thing. All either of them wanted to do right now is relax. A coffee, or a scotch, depending on whose brain you happened to be picking, a hot shower and a comfortable bed.  
Once the crowds of people who's faces they knew but names they never asked for had dispersed, the pair stripped themselves of their gear and found themselves a nice quiet spot in the cafeteria and a pair of drinks. Dirk gave his partner a gaze she was sure was disapproval behind his glasses. She didn't want to speak, so he did, while she stared sheepishly down at her glass.  
"You're drinking again." To the untrained ear, his voice would sound flat, like he was simply stating a fact. Roxy was attuned to the nuances in his tone, and she heard the disapproval she thought she saw just a few moments ago.  
"Oh yeah." She lifted her cup so the golden liquid caught the light. "I was wonderin' what that was." That was her play, to diffuse the situation with humor. It rarely worked where Dirk was concerned.  
"Roxy-" He began, but she was quick to cut him off. She'd heard all his lectures before, and they were nothing special.  
"It's just one drink, I ain't fallen off the wagon. I promise." Even so, he took the glass from her hands and placed his own coffee in front of her, before she'd even managed to take a sip and she knew it was for the best.   
An hour later and Roxy was showered and in her favorite pajamas. They were pink with little blue cat faces and Roxy didn't care how often she was told just how childish they were. Dirk stepped out of the shower, holy shit did that dude love his showers, and Roxy did him the decency of not paying attention while he dressed himself. When he was done she offered him a crooked little smile and a fist bump. She was still high from the fight.  
"Nice work today, Strider."  
"You too, Lalonde." He bumped his knuckles to hers before climbing into the lower bunk. Roxy hung over the edge of hers to face him.  
"I mean did you even see us out there? All POW POW!" She threw punches at the air and he chuckled, watching her rattle dangerously close to slipping from her bunk. When she didn't he reached up and nudged her forehead back with a finger.  
"Go to sleep. We're in for some bullshit tomorrow."  
"Oh yeah, new guy transfers in tomorrow, right? You think he'll be hot?" That question is enough to spoil the mood, even if neither of them will admit it. He knows she's goading him and he never reacts the way she wants him to. He shrugs.  
"Maybe. You'll find out that much sooner of you go to sleep."  
She hauled herself back up onto her bunk and stared up at the ceiling. "Think bro would be proud of you?"  
"He's dead."  
"I think he'd be proud of you."

Stirling Ranger  
Jake English was every bit the hero you'd expect him to be, with a name like that. Pilot of the Jaeger with an equally as action-hero-protagonist title, Stirling Ranger. Jake didn't have a 'new guy' vibe. He was strapping, and dashing, and all those other old-timey words you might use to describe someone like him. He'd stride into the room with an oblivious, but charming enough smile and all the girl's would melt. Roxy had, the first time she'd seen him. His charisma had been enough to cut through her infatuation and hold her for a moment. Only a moment, but it was a relief. Even Dirk wasn't fully prepared for the affect Jake's B-grade hero's entrance would have on his bleeding heart. It was just a shame he was already taken. Jane Crocker, a cute little house-wife type. She was a bit plump, with eyes the color of bluebells and a smile that could melt even the coldest of hearts. Roxy befriended her immediately.   
Jane's friendship wasn't like what she had with Dirk. It was work and effort but not the kind that would make Roxy give up on it. They'd banter, Jane would fuss and Roxy would make quips and at the end of the day they could hug and laugh about it, but what weighed on Roxy's mind was Jane's unwillingness to believe some pretty basic facts about her life. Like her mother.  
Somewhere in the room, Jake was making new friends, no doubt being showered with praise, and Dirk was no doubt sitting somewhere and watching it all happen.  
"Now, why on Earth would the daughter of a stinking rich author decide to spend her time gallivanting around, risking her life like that?" Jane asked the question like it was innocent enough and even then Roxy seemed taken aback.  
"Okay, but why wouldn't I?"  
Jane gave her an incredulous look and Roxy pursed her lips "I'm not saying you don't do a fantastic job of it, Roxy! I just can't wrap my head around why."  
"The job pretty much fell into my lap, that's all there is to say on the matter." Jane opened her mouth again, and Roxy was quick to interrupt her. "What's it like bein' shacked up with a ranger?"  
Jane gave her a weary smile. "It's tough sometimes. We hardly get a minute to ourselves! And then there's the worry."  
"I can't imagine not fightin' alongside Dirk."  
"Oh, are you two..?"  
"Nah. Just friends."  
"Close friends."  
"Yeah, close friends." Roxy's gaze shot over to Dirk. There was a weird symmetry going on, with Roxy looking at Dirk, and he looking at Jake, and now Jane had everything she needed to know.  
"You should go for it, Roxy!" She reached over and gave the girl a playful nudge.  
Roxy shook her head. "He ain't interested. I've tried. Like, an embarrassing amount of times. I keep thinkin' we had this special connection, y'know?"  
"You do have a special connection. Drift compatibility is not a thing to take lightly."  
"Yeah, yeah. I know." She finally looked back to Jane. "What about you and English then?"  
"We met in high school. Never did take that fancy compatibility test, but we seem to fit just fine!"   
"You guys are cute as hell together, I ain't gonna deny that."  
Jane giggled, the sound like bells. "Thank you. We do try."

Strange Bedfellows  
The job of a lab assistant was literally the opposite of glamorous. When Roxy had been hired, fresh out of university, to work on the Jaeger program she had expected walls full of equations and breakthroughs with her name on them. Instead she had been given coffee runs and cleaning up Kaiju guts. It was, however, a prestigious position, and there would be opportunities to prove herself and move up through the ranks. At the ripe age of 16, a university graduate and certified genius, Roxy had no doubt about this.   
"They're brought in another doe-eyed hindrance." Eridan snagged a coffee from Roxy's hands as he passed.  
"Get your own coffee next time." She placed another cup on Sollux's desk and sipped at her own. "Gimme the gos, what department?"  
"Robotics. If you must know every disgusting detail, they found him in Texas. His name is D-"  
"Don't tell me! I'm gonna find out myself." She spoke in a matter of fact tone, as if someone as smart as Ampora should've known already.  
Dirk looked down and wished he hadn't. He was standing face to face with a behemoth that descended down into pitch blackness, highlighted by white hot sparks that lit the air like stars. They were still putting this thing together. The Jaeger was called Encanto Strider, or Valiant Rogue, or something equally as pretentious. Dirk decided he liked that first name better, for some reason. His expression remained guarded, hidden behind a pair of pointed shades he'd picked up so he didn't have to wear the same one's his bro wore. Also because Kamina is fucking sick. Despite his ice cold exterior, his stomach did little flips as he stared dead into the cockpit. He was going to build this thing, and it towered over him like nobodies fucking business, then one day a pair of hero's were going to stand right there and save people. He was so caught up in the thought he almost jumped when a petite blonde slid up beside him in the catwalk.  
"She's a beauty, ain't she?" The girl spoke with a thick New York accent that suddenly made him insecure about his own country twang. He nodded and hummed in response, but there was no way she was going to accept that. The girl turned and thrust a hand in his direction, and when he looked at her he found she had an expression on her face like it was lit from the inside by a star.   
"Roxy Lalonde."  
"Dirk Strider." He took her hand, gave it a firm shake and she seemed impressed, if a bit bemused.  
"Why're you wearin' sunglasses inside."   
Dirk just shrugged, because he couldn't think of a good enough reason to give her. "Because I want to."  
"Y'know they kinda make you look like a giant douche"  
That caught him off guard. He'd expected measured politeness, but here she was giving him the full asshole treatment not five minutes after he'd learned her name. He had to admit he respected that. "You're Rosalyn's daughter, right?"  
"No wait, we're still talkin' about how dickish you look." Dirk knew he'd hit a soft spot. That had been his intention, but that distant look of heartbreak on her face, worn like it was something she'd grown used to, made him think he'd better keep that topic for only dire emergencies.  
"I'm fully aware of how dickish I look, actually. It's my brand."  
"You couldn't think of a better brand than 'pretentious asshole'?"  
"Nah, I think it fits me just fine."  
"You gonna build that thing?" She'd turned away from him again, towards the Jaeger, her arms folded over the railing as she scrutinized it.  
"Yep."  
Dirk Strider was the exact opposite of charming. He was cold, and critical, and had stoic nature that wouldn't thaw to Roxy's warm and bubbly one. Naturally, Roxy fell in love with him right away. It had only taken a few weeks before they'd become inseparable. It was probably the draw of having someone who could relate that kept them gravitating towards each other. If you'd asked Dirk about Roxy, He'd have said the sun shone out her ass in those exact words, so when she'd grabbed him by the hand and dragged him through the base, declaring it a date in that sickly sweet voice of hers, he didn't protest.   
For a fully populated base, it was easy to find it empty in the small hours of the morning. The pair used this as their first chance to properly explore the base, and to indulge in a bit of rebellion. The night was a blur of stolen drinks and stolen kisses and heavy footsteps on unpolished floors as they ran from place to place, showing little regard for the sleeping population who probably had important jobs to do in just a handful of hours. They were still kids, and the jobs that had been handed to them brought with them the kind of responsibility that no kid should willingly take on.   
Pale sunlight spilled pitifully through the shutters as they found themselves in the training circle. Over the weeks Roxy had watched as candidates pitted themselves against each other in this ring. Stranger threw strikes at stranger until they left with someone they could trust their lives with. She skipped out into the center of the empty space. She was haloed by the golden light of morning and that star-for-a-smile expression she wore, and Dirk was captivated. He almost didn't notice when she tossed him a staff, but he managed to catch it and preserve his ice cold motherfucker reputation for another day.  
"Fight me, Strider." She was hopped up on cheap cafeteria whiskey and a night spent not sleeping.  
"Seriously? I'm not really much of a fighter." Dirk hadn't even realized he'd taken a few steps towards her and entered the ring. "You're also pretty drunk."  
"Pff. Sure. You're just scared I'm gonna kick your ass." She held her own staff with both hands, her knees bent, her center of gravity shifted low, and eyed Dirk with the kind of challenging expression he couldn't say no to.  
He swung first, aimed for her left side while her staff was at her right, hoping to catch her off guard, but her staff spun around and broke his arc and almost sent it clattering to the ground. Dirk had strong arms and broad shoulders, but Roxy was light on her feet like a dancer. She'd spin or duck while he was rooted to the ground, and he'd block her strikes like he knew she was going to make them. By the time Roxy knocked Dirk on his ass for the second time, they'd each landed a grand total of 3 or 4 hits each, and now that sunlight illuminated the rest of the room proper they could see Doctor Zahhak standing in the doorway. His face was stern as he beckoned them over and walked out into the hall.  
Zahhak was an imposing man. Tall and muscular, with a gruff voice to match, and the head of the Jaegar program. It was a combination that commanded respect, and even a bit of fear as he brought the pair into his office  
"Do you two realize what you've done?"  
Roxy was the first to speak up. "Please, don't fire Dirk. It wasn't his fault, I made him do it."  
Zahhak stared at her, confusion lit his expression, then he laughed. "I'm not going to fire anyone, don't worry about that."  
"Then why are we here, when we could be doing our jobs?" Dirk spoke next, in that same semi-scathing tone he always used.  
"The two of you have a rare gift, and as such I'm offering you both a promotion." There was a confused silence that prompted him to keep talking. "The pair of you are drift compatible." Roxy stared at Dirk like she couldn't believe he was real, and he stared back with that same perpetual 'I don't give a shit' expression, but she knew it meant something different. "Training starts tomorrow. Go get some rest."

Mariner Phi  
People called them the Scourge sisters, and the second they walked in it was apparent why. The pair of them together had the kind of presence that demanded the attention of everyone in the room. Conversations would fall flat and heads would turn, and there they were, framed by a doorway and looking like they'd just conquered the world. Vriska's voice spat the kind of poison you'd expect from a scorpion, and Terezi would gaze around with the kind of judgment that told you she knew she was better than every person in the room, with maybe the single exception of her partner. Of course this wouldn't deter Roxy and Dirk from striding right up to them, once the crowds of ogling onlookers had dispersed, and offering introductions.  
"I'm Roxy. This is Dick." She offered a hand, and nudged Dirk with the other.  
"Actually, it's Dirk. Roxy likes to think her pet names are cute."  
Neither of them took Roxy's hand, but Terezi spoke. "We know who you are."  
Like Dirk, Terezi guarded her expression with a pair of red shades. Vriska let the full heat of her gaze go unrestricted, and paired it with a smile like acid. The both of them wore faded leather jackets that made them look like they'd stepped right out of an 80's girl gang.  
Roxy's hand dropped and she smiled like she hadn't just been rejected by the girl's at the cool kid's table in high school. "Guess we kinda got a rep goin' for ourselves by now, huh?"  
"You're the daughter of that author, not to mention one of the best Jaeger pilots around." Vriska had a way of making everything that came from her mouth sound like an insult. "What, did you expect to be able to fly under the radar, Lalonde? Everyone knows your name."  
"Nah, y'know. Just employin' some common courtesy is all."   
Vriska and Terezi had looks on their faces like they were telepathically sharing some private joke.  
"Vriska." She'd finally offered up her name like it was a prize.  
"Unsurprisingly, we know who you are, too." Where Vriska's voice sounded perpetually sarcastic for the animation she used when she spoke, Dirks had the same affect for the opposite reason, Vriska looked like she'd just been challenged to a duel.  
"I bet you do, Dirk Strider. How did a pair of rich kids such as yourselves wind up here, fighting Kaiju?"  
"Oh, it was pure, dumb as fuck luck, actually. Roxy was brought in as a grunt for the science geeks, I was a lackey for the robotics department. Next thing you know, our consciousnesses are shoved together and we're riding giant robots and punching giant lizards in the face. Pretty standard story to tell the grandkids."  
Vriska laughed, Terezi might've laughed too but Roxy didn't hear. She was too busy with the fluttery feeling in her gut to notice.

Stirling Strider  
It would've been inaccurate to say Dirk and Jake were inseparable the same way Roxy and Jane were, but they did spend a lot of time together. They both felt a repeat of what had happened when they first met. Someone who could relate. Someone new to talk to. Not that they ever grew tired of talking to each other. Dirk never spoke any differently with him than he would with any of his other friends. He'd use the same tone and make the same sarcastic, cutting remarks that made him so damn popular, but it was plain as fucking day to someone like Roxy that Dirk wanted something more than friendship. Even so, she trusted him enough to respect the relationship Jake was already in, ignoring the sickly feeling that weighed on her gut every time she saw them together.  
According to Jake, once he'd found a moment to spend alone with Dirk, his old partner wasn't even worth mentioning.  
"The way that bastard just up and quit. Dropped me like a hot sack of turds, to put it indelicately."  
"Put it as indelicately as you like." Dirk Strider; master of subtle innuendo.  
"It is nice to be here, though. Nice to see a flock of new faces, get a fresh start. And the candidates here are bloody promising!"  
"I bet anyone here would jump at the chance to ride with you."  
"They do kind of treat me like a rock star here." Jake chuckled, looked a bit sheepish with a hand messing up the back of his hair.  
"It's just a shame you won't get to test your compatibility with some of the other pilots. Never know who you could be compatible with."  
Jake nodded thoughtfully, then had a look on his face like the solution to world peace just occurred him him. "Dirk, why don't we give it a go, ey? What do you say? A couple of rowdy boys like us? Tousling with the big kids?" (Dirk, bone me hard.)  
"Doesn't sound like a bad idea." (Yes Jake, I will bone you hard.)  
"Oh, wait. But what about Roxy?" (But what about Jane?)  
"What about Roxy?" (What about Jane?)  
"Won't she be a might upset about this?" (Won't she be a might upset about this?)  
"Naw, not like I'm promising to drop her like a hot sack of shit and ride with you forever." (Naw, not like you're promising to drop her like a hot sack of shit so I can ride you forever.)  
Jake was quiet for a moment, pensive, before nodding. "It's settled then. If you're sure she wont mind."  
"I'm sure." Sure that she most definitely WILL mind.   
Jake gave him that smile, the one that made all the girl's swoon, and Dirk did in fact swoon. Before even he knew what he was doing, he'd leaned forward and wiped that smile of Jake's face with a kiss. Jake froze. The poor bastard had never seen it coming, and when it had come it hit him like a tonne of bricks. He pulled back and Dirk looked at him like he'd done not a damn thing wrong.  
"Uh, Dirk? Pal?"  
"Yes?"  
"What was that?"  
"It was a kiss. You never kissed anyone before?"  
"Of course I have. I-" Jake still had that perplexed look on his face.   
"Dude, chill out. No one's questioning your kissing prowess. I'm sure you've won gold in the tongue wrestling Olympics."  
Jake chuckled, a nervous sound before he opened his mouth to speak again. He was saved by a beeping phone. "Well, I'd better go. A lot of potential partners to see today!"

Lady Luck (She has none.)  
Without Terezi around, you could see Vriska for who she really was. She was still a kid, under all the bravado and snark. A kid who's mother had pushed her into becoming a pilot and who'd put way too much responsibility on her tiny shoulders. You could see it in the way she squared them, in the way she walked with a heavy step and a broad stance, like she'd been trained to use her body as a weapon even when it wasn't needed. There was the common ground Roxy found with her, relating on the whole shitty parent and less-than-stellar upbringing front.   
Once she'd finally got Vriska to talk, Really talk instead of reciting those lines she'd learned to intimidate, there was basically no stopping her.  
"With mom, it was always the nagging! Train harder, get stronger. Always nagging and badgering and nit-picking! She could never just cut me a fucking break, you know?" Vriska took a breath, as if she'd used her last one up getting all that bullshit off her chest, then looked to Roxy. "What about you?"  
Roxy made a pained expression down at her drink "Mom was never really around, when she was she didn't pay much attention. I guess someone like her was to busy to be raisin' a kid and getting rid of me probably would've been bad publicity. But, it ain't so bad, ya know! Maybe she was just teachin' me to be self sufficient, cause that's sure as fuck what I learned from it all."  
"It's still rough when they die. Like none of the bad stuff even mattered anymore." Vriska had a faraway look in her eye, guilt mixed with something else. Her mother had been killed in the wake of the Kaiju that Vriska and Terezi had been tasked with taking down.  
"My mom's not dead. We just don't talk is all. I guess we kinda keep tabs on each other through the news, but we never talk." Roxy was quiet for a moment. "Sorry about your mom, though."  
"It's alright. She deserved what was coming to her, in the end. It was a kind of sick ironic retribution."  
"Do you like it? Bein' famous pretty much just for kickin' tonnes of alien ass?"  
Vriska chuckled, then sighed. "I don't know. I don't know if I do it because I like it, or if it's just all I know. But you, though. How'd you even get in?"  
"I was a science lackey, then I met Dirk and it turned out we were both pretty fuckin' great fighters, so they shoved us in a Jaeger."  
"Lucky break."  
Roxy laughed. "Yeah, I guess it was. So, how'd you and Terezi shack up?"  
"We've been fighting together for as long as I can remember."  
"And does she know you're pretty much a giant softie under it all?"  
"Shut up, I am not a softie!" Vriska reached out, mimicked punching her in the arm and Roxy laughed, and Vriska did too, and there was that fluttery feeling again.  
"Alright, tough guy. If you say so."   
An alarm sounded, and Roxy almost missed the buzzing of her phone. It was from Dirk, one word. 'Kaiju'

 

Machiavellian Endevour  
Into the drift, and the first thing Roxy saw was his Bro's face, again and again. There was her own. There was Jake. A normal enough handshake. There was Jake again. Something's not right. Usually drifting with Dirk was comfortable, like putting on her favorite pair of shoes. This time it felt like she was imposing, seeing things she shouldn't be seeing. Roxy felt that twisty feeling in her gut and this time she knew it was bad, but by now they were being loaded up into the Valiant and Dirk was giving her a look of concern. She waved him off, but didn't bother to turn, and they were on their way.   
A category 3, just off the coast. Something the pair of them could probably handle with their eyes closed.  
"Something's up." He still hadn't taken his eyes off her.  
"Yeah, how about the big ass Kaiju who's shit we're about to kick?"   
"Fair enough."  
"The car is not a place to deal with personal or work issues." She recited the line like she'd memorized it from a text book. "Learned that when I first started drivin'."  
"What about issues that are more 'best friend' in nature?"  
It's now when they catch their first glimpse of the Kaiju, and the pair of them went silent. Roxy was oddly grateful as it rose from the water like a behemoth, and it's gaze slowly drifted from land towards Valiant Rogue. There was a stand off, as if a Kaiju knows shit about strategics. Hearts pounded and muscles twitched, anticipating the fight. The Kaiju opened it's maw, the inside of it's mouth lit with blues and greens, it was hypnotic to look at in comparison to the shriek that sounded from the creature, then it swung the first attack. The Jaeger ducked it as if it was nothing, and went in low, charging to take out it's balance, but the Kaiju stood it's ground. It sent a limb into their back and suddenly they were swallowed by the ocean and staring down at the sea bed, but not for long before they went lower still, and steel hands grasped at it's legs. It tried to move but it couldn't, and before it knew what was happening, the Valiant yanked it off balance, broke the surface again and send a fist corralling into it's face. Roxy laughed as they sent another, sent the beast stumbling back, but it lashed out with a gnarled limb and caught their craft and hurled them backwards. Roxy was the guns girl, and before she even had time to think it her weapons were aimed at the creature, locked, and sending tonnes of lead hurtling at high speed. The barrage tore flesh, sent blood torrenting into the ocean, and they thought they'd won. Another limb flung as the creature fell, it caught the cockpit harder than anyone should've expected. Stinging salt water whistled in, broken glass and twisted metal scattered about the place, but the Kaiju was down for the count and the Valiant turned back towards home. Dirk didn't even catch the shrapnel that had lodged itself between plates of Roxy's armor, because she didn't turn to grin at him, and he never looked over to give her that expression of admiration.  
Roxy was filled with that feeling again. She wished she wasn't, right now Dirk could feel every regret, every indignant thought, every betrayal that swirled through her consciousness, and in that moment she felt all of them at once as their craft took heavy steps back towards base. It wasn't even the usual brand of jealousy. The stinging heartbreak she felt anytime he was romantically inclined towards someone who wasn't her. She could live with him being in love with someone else, because at least then she knew she'd still have him as her partner. This was different. This kind of heartbreak had torn through her. Once they mounted, Roxy dumped her gear, ignored the hands that tried to take her and guide her to the medical wing. She pulled the shrapnel out herself, bound it herself and took hurried steps in search of outside, Dirk on her tail. The weather was bad. They'd kicked up a storm, and it seemed fitting and incredible cliche as wind whipped Roxy's hair and stung her skin, and she barely heard or bothered to notice when Dirk walked up behind her. When she turned to him he looked guilty. Good.   
"It's not like you've never thought about piloting with someone else. I don't think it's even wired into our brains, like those mammals who mate for life or some other bullshit."   
Roxy shook her head, she didn't even have to speak. He'd seen it. Her utter fidelity to him as a pilot. Her love for him, not just the kind of love you have for a friend or sibling. She felt that same thing buzzing around in his head for Jake. Worse than that, she'd felt how he wanted to pilot alongside him. She wiped the cutting wind and the tears from her cheeks, refusing to say a word. She shook him off when he put a hand on her shoulder, knowing that gesture was the closest he'd ever get to actually giving her an apology, and he knew that was her way of not accepting it. The wind howled in the silence around them for a while, before Roxy found herself halfway to her bed, then all the way there, then with the neck of a bottle pressed to her lips and the liquid burning on it's way down. Dirk didn't show until a few hours later when she'd fallen asleep. He sneaked in like a scolded dog and climbed into his bunk as quietly as he could, but sleep wasn't as kind to him.

Eighth Circle  
Most of the time Roxy and Dirk didn't have to speak. Even when they'd first met. They'd talk about the dumb shit they did in high school, then Roxy would talk about how she missed her cat and Dirk would talk about how he missed his bro, then they'd spend a moment being sentimental and be right back to talking shit and calling each other names. It was about now that Roxy started missing those times, this silence wasn't comfortable like the one's she'd grown accustomed to. This one was all guilty glances and filled with regret.  
Vriska found Roxy in the cafeteria, staring headlong into a glass she was sure was filled with something alcoholic, and everything in her told her to turn around and walk away like she'd seen nothing. She had none of her usual edge as she took the seat opposite, even a hint of concern in her eyes.   
"Uh... is everything alright?" She could tell Vriska had confidence in just about everything she did that wasn't showing compassion in any form. She did get mad points for trying. Even the fact that she gave enough of a shit lifted Roxy, if only a minuscule amount.  
"Other than feelin' like a complete sack of shit, I'm fine." Roxy swirled the last of her drink in her glass, then upended it, and slapped it back on the table with a little distasteful frown.  
"Do you wanna... you know... talk about it?"  
"Nah, not really somethin' I wanna bother you with."  
Vriska slipped from her seat, and into the one beside Roxy. "C'mon. We're friends now right? And friends share things. Right?"  
Roxy was quiet, spinning her glass between her fingertips, and Vriska watched and waited. "So, the dude I love is crushin' mad on, and also wants to PILOT with that 6ft tall hunk o' hero. Jake English."   
Vriska didn't reply but for a barely audible "Oh." and a hand on her shoulder. "Roxy, come on. Don't get yourself all down over a guy! Guys are lame."  
Roxy laughed and looked up at her. Vriska was smiling, and Roxy had that fluttery feeling in her chest again, and she decided 'fuck it' like she did before any poorly thought out decision. Vriska had opened her mouth to speak again, and Roxy silenced her with her on lips. For a second Vriska found herself kissing back, but the reality of the situation hit and she pulled back, and for Roxy it was over too soon. Roxy stared back at her empty glass, ashamed, disappointed.  
"I..." At first Vriska was conflicted, the girl beside her was beautiful, and radiant, and to see her in this state was a heartbreak in and of it'self. Vriska decided to go with what was comfortable, for once in her life. "I have a boyfriend."   
Roxy nodded. "Yeah. Sorry, that was super dumb of me."  
"It wasn't dumb, just..." She gave Roxy another smile, this one all sympathy and it made Roxy bitter. It made her angry, but she hardly had the energy to feel it. "I'll see you round." Roxy didn't look up. She was too busy feeling she'd been deemed a charity case. There was the sound of heavy combat boots on hardy floors, then Vriska was gone and Roxy was on her own again.

Pretty much a lost cause  
Dirk Strider; world renown piece of shit and asshole extraordinaire. It was something Roxy had called him once, and right now he felt it. Roxy hadn't spoken to him properly in days. Most of the time when he'd hurt her, she'd just carry on like she was bulletproof, and part of him liked to think she was. That none of the shitty things he did or said actually got to her, but he was just kidding himself until the next time they drifted, when he could feel her emotions in full glorious technicolor.   
The only thing that made him feel even remotely better was Jake. Dirk had put a lot of work into persuading him into infidelity. By now Jake was like a trained dog. He'd send a text and Jake would be there ten minutes later, and Dirk could see the guilt that he tried to hide, and hear Roxy's voice in his head telling him what a literal fucking asshole he was. None of that stopped him from taking what he wanted. To his credit, they never actually fucked. Dirk's hands never strayed below the belt, as if exercising that kind of self control would somehow absolve him of how utterly despicable the whole thing was. Mostly they'd just lay in Dirk's single bed.  
"I'm not doing this again." Despite his claim, Jake made no effort to move, and Dirk buried his face further against his shoulder.  
"You say that every time. Am I supposed to believe you're magically going to go through with it?"  
"I mean it this time. This is the last time."  
"Alright, if you say so."  
Only now did Jake got up, de-tangled himself from Dirk's arms and sat on the edge of the bed. "It would absolutely kill Jane, if she found out."  
"So she won't find out. Just this once, everybody lives." Dirk slid over and pressed his face to Jake's back. His body was toned like nobodies business. His skin dark and warm under Dirk's lips. Jake shook him off and stood.  
"Dirk, chum. I'm leaving now, and I doubt I'll be coming to any more of these rendezvous."  
"Alright, Jake."  
He stood in the doorway, giving Dirk a resolute look. "Goodbye."  
"See you next time."

Pleiades Voyager  
Roxy had always found comfort in the labs, in the distant bickering of the two head scientists. It was a place that felt like home, where she'd spent her early days working on the Jaeger program. She still lamented not being able to claim her name to any of the big breakthroughs of the department, but she liked being a pilot just fine. Eridan Ampora and Sollux Captor were both charming in their own way, but still Roxy was sure the only reason they were so much fun to hang out with was because she could always goad them into arguing about something, not that anyone really had to try. Sollux would call Eridan a pretentious douche, and Eridan would call him a sniveling wretch, and it was all downhill from there.   
Sollux and Eridan were huddled precariously around a computer screen, words volleyed back and forth in hushed tones and when Roxy found them she was sure they were on the cusp of physical violence.  
"What're you two geeks watchin over there?"  
"You ain't allowed to call us geeks, you w-were one of us."  
"Was. Past tense. Grammar, Ampora!"  
"For once Ampora is right, once a geek, always a geek."  
"Psh. Shut it and tell me what you're watchin."  
Roxy weaseled her way between the two, and found them staring at a screen of rapidly scrolling strings of numbers and words that she could barely understand on their own. Together they looked like gibberish.  
"I'm speaking this asshole's language." Even with that faint lisp, every word from Sollux's mouth sounded more scathing than the last.  
"Aaaaaand? What's he saying?" Roxy turned to Eridan, brows raised.  
"He's TRYING to tell me it's possible to initiate a neural handshake w-with a Kaiju. But this prov-ves nothing! This simperin' IMBECILE is going to get himself killed." Eridan sounded like he might pop a blood vessel any second, and his stutter didn't help.  
"Yeah, because 'I think w-we're gonna be seeing bigger and more frequent activ-vity in the breach' is totally a groundbreaking revelation. Fortune favors the brave, dumbass."  
"It's not guessing, you pathetic w-welp. I'm predicting future ev-vents based on past ev-vidence. YOU are going to end up a burned out husk if you ev-ven THINK about attempting something like this."  
"You're a numbers monkey, genius."  
"I am NOT-"  
"Both of you, shut up!" Normally Roxy wouldn't have a problem listening to them bicker. The names they came up with for each other only got more impressive as they argued on, but she could hear distant shouts echoing from down the hall. There was a commotion from outside the room, and the three rushed over and swung open the door. People where everywhere, milling, spilling through the halls like a disturbed school of fish. Roxy tried to see through the crowd, tried to squeeze her way through the bodies.  
Down the hall, medical personnel wheeled someone away on a bed, and in a damn hurry too.  
"What jackass got themselves hurt this time?" Sollux adjusted his glasses, and one of the onlookers turned their way.   
"Scourge sisters just got back. People are saying Terezi's been blinded."

Dawn Divided  
Roxy had all but forgotten about what she'd seen in Dirk's head. It'd taken her a week to start talking to him properly again, and in that time she'd started to spend a lot more time with Jane, and Vriska and Terezi. Making new friends was good for her, she decided. She felt guilty for leaving Dirk on his own, but he was a big boy. He could handle his own shit for once.  
She'd left the common area, and the sisters to their own accord. Terezi and Vriska were as imposing as ever, and a whole lot of fun to hang out with, it turned out. Terezi didn't bother to sulk about loosing her eyesight. After a few test runs in the simulation, she decided it actually made her a better fighter. Made her connection with Vriska stronger still.  
Roxy decided she'd actually make it back to her room before midnight tonight, and without a drink in her. She realized her mistake when she'd swung the door open, the sight before her played out like a bad joke. Jake stood there, like a deer caught in headlights. His shirt around his armpits, and Dirk's hands all over him. Jake hurried to make himself decent, Roxy stared. She was half frozen in shock, half anger, and to her surprise not even a little bit of jealousy sparked. Jake left without a single word in his defense, and Roxy turned to leave after him. Not sure where she would leave to. Anywhere but here.  
"Roxy, don't." Dirk spoke with a kind of defeat. He'd been expecting this moment to come for a while, but he hadn't bothered to prepare himself for it.  
She spun to face him, and her eyes burned with malice and heartbreak. "How could you do that to Jane?"  
"Wow." He let out a single, humorless laugh, "I half expected you to ask 'How could you do this to me?" In an instant Roxy saw red, her blood boiled in her veins and she hit him. She couldn't help herself. Her knuckles smacked into his jaw, and he reeled back while her bones ached.   
"I am not fuckin' around here, Dirk."   
"I gathered that when you punched me just now." He rubbed at his face, rotated his jaw and put his shades back on, which had been sitting on his bedside table until now. The dickbag was wearing sunglasses inside. At night. It only served to piss Roxy off more, and she had to hold herself back from knocking them off again.   
"If it was just me I was worryin' about, you know I wouldn't say jack. You KNOW!" There was a pleading in her voice, mixed in with all the anger, like she was already begging him not to hate her or be mad. "She's my best friend, Dirk. Of all the DICK-ISH THINGS." And there she'd stopped. She looked at him, and it was almost like she was in his head again. It was like she felt his hurt in slow motion. It blossomed through his chest like blood from a bullet wound. It wasn't fair. He could hurt her as much as he wanted, disregard the feelings he felt her feel, and she'd take it in her stride like her own emotions meant jack shit to her. But this one little thing tipped them over the edge. She could feel the falling. There was silence, and she wanted to take it back. This was the point of no return and it felt wrong. So, so, so wrong.   
"Sorry. Dirk, I'm sorry." It was all she could manage, a weak-voiced little apology.   
"It's okay." It wasn't okay, HE wasn't okay and it was selfish of him to blame her for any of the hurt he felt. He was a shitty friend, but he hugged her anyway, more for his own comfort than anything.   
There was nothing left for them to say. It was like one of those times they could have a full conversation and speak a grand total of 5 words to each other, but this time it didn't feel like they were close. It hurt. Roxy could practically feel the rift opening up under their feet and it didn't matter that he was hugging her, he may as well have been on another continent for all the comfort it brought. Neither of them wanted to admit what the other was thinking, that they probably wouldn't be piloting together. Not anytime soon, at least. Dirk felt like he was losing his head, and Roxy felt a hole in her gut, and neither of them could think of what to do or say next so they just stayed there for the longest time before their legs got tired from standing and they both went to bed in silence.

science nerds II: electric boogaloo  
Though renown for his fucking atrocious eyesight, the things Sollux Captor saw, he saw in perfect clarity. He saw his 11th birthday, when his parents had bought their first desktop. The monitor was fat, and off yellow in color, and it made a buzzing noise sometimes, but Sollux had loved it like a sibling. He saw his first almost-kiss when he was 14, when his face had just crashed into that of the object of his affections, then they laughed it off and everything was awkward. He saw his last day of high school. His first day of college. His first time seeing that smug douche, Eridan Ampora. That one made him happy. He was about to rub this in that asshole's face. Then he saw things he didn't remember. Pulsing lights and a calm like being underwater. An Alien landscape, like twisting vertebrae tangled over a vast space. He saw others this mind new. He felt things too. Things he could only describe as a sense of duty or pride, or desperation or obligation.  
Suddenly there was light, and the dream was over. His ears rung, his eyes couldn't focus and something hot and wet trickled over his lips and he tasted copper. Everything shook, and he could barely keep a hold of the cup that was thrust in his hand, or take in every detail of Eridan's horrified face like he wanted to. It took him a few moments, but finally his lips and tongue responded and he could form words again, so he picked out a few choice ones.  
"I fucking told you it would work."

Brave Prophet  
Sirens wailed in Roxy's ear, dragged her from sleep and to her feet. She dressed quickly, her mind still not caught up with her body, and she made her way to ground control on autopilot. A few seconds later Vriska strode in, Terezi hot on her trail.  
"It's the biggest one we've seen." A voice to her left. Where the fuck is Dirk?  
"We need a Jaeger deployed five minutes ago." The room went silent. All they had was one half of a team who's other half had skedaddled, and who'd also broken up the night previous, and one half of a team who's other half had been blinded.  
"Let me go. Alone." Vriska spoke up, Terezi looked sick.  
"You can't pilot that thing alone, Vriska. I do not care how invincible you think you are. I am ready to go with you!"   
"I'll go with you." This time Roxy spoke. She ignored the stabbing pain in her gut where her wound had been stitched. Pushed aside thoughts of it tearing open.  
"Don't be an idiot. There's not enough time, if we're not compatible people will die. I can go alone." People stared, as if unsure what to do. Vriska stood like she was a god among men. She should've been leaving. Gearing up already. "But first." Vriska closed the distance between she and Roxy and spent a few precious moments, which could've probably been better spend kicking Kaiju ass, pressing a kiss to her lips. Roxy's heart fluttered in her chest, and despite her still-half-asleep state she pressed back in the few seconds before Vriska's lips left hers. "In case I never see you again. You're cute."   
Vriska walked out without a second glance back, and Terezi followed the sound of her footsteps, refusing so leave her alone, and somehow it worked and the were both being prepared for deployment.  
Once in the Jaeger, Vriska became Terezi's sight. She could see everything Vriska did, in a way. She saw hits come in, and blocked them. Delivered blows with the same finesse she'd when she still had her vision. The Kaiju was big, but it couldn't stand up against the Mariner Phi. the Scourge Sisters were a force of nature when they fought, nothing could best them. Another hit, and the creature was growing desperate. It's claws grasped for the craft, tore metal and broke glass and sent shrapnel hurtling through the cockpit. Another hit, the Kaiju drew it's hand back, a fistful of steel held high above it's head. Another hit, the Kaiju went down. Metal groaned in protest, and the sisters learned too late that part of their own craft was on a collision course with them when it tore through their cockpit, and sent the Jaeger down.   
There was a shriek in pain, and Terezi's blindness returned, then all at once the shriek ended and the cockpit was silent again.   
"Vriska?" The sound of chopper blades cut through the silence and Terezi felt hands on her and heard a chorus of shouting voices that she didn't bother to listen to.  
"Vriska?" Terezi struggled against the hands that grasped her, searched for her partner, but her hands met nothing but steel and cords and then empty air as she was lifted from the craft. "Vriska!"  
"She's gone."

Vriska's body was a mess, even by the time Roxy had been let down to see it. She'd lost an arm, an eye was gone, and her chest was pierced through by a large shard of twisted metal that no one had bothered to remove yet. It looked sad. There lay one of the best pilots the world had seen. A girl who probably didn't even want to save lives but did it anyway because it's what she was best at. They hadn't even bothered to clean her up. If you could look past that, past the blood and torn flesh, Vriska's expression seemed almost peaceful. Roxy found bandages, a waste to use them on the dead but she did it anyway. She cleaned the red and blue from Vriska's skin. Removed her ruined clothes and dressed her wounds and found her something nice to wear once she was done. Roxy wanted to cry, but she didn't feel like she deserved to. She'd only known the girl a handful of weeks. Terezi stood in the corner, blood splattered her clothes and her skin, and she scowled but she didn't try to stop Roxy. She almost seemed grateful, behind that expression set into her skin, and she didn't cry so Roxy didn't either.  
It wasn't until she was back in her room that tears were shed. Dirk was there, and he didn't say anything but he grieved for her. He got up from his bunk and wrapped his arms around the girl as if they could protect her from the hurt. Roxy barely reacted but to press her face into his shoulder and soak up the comfort of the dark and his familiar, bent metal and hard labor and water spray scent she hadn't realized she'd missed so much until now. He lifted her from her feet, carried her to his bed and lay there with her, and in the few fleeting moments before sleep took her it was almost like things were normal between them and she was almost okay.

Whiskey Fury  
It wasn't unheard of, for a pair of pilots to become distanced from each other. Less uncommon was for rangers to die in combat. Even so the whole base felt like it was in mourning for days after losing 2 of their best. Roxy and Dirk both felt like their own little personal world was ending. Dirk searched for a new partner, it was basically all he did. He neglected his work making Jaeger tick and fight, but no one fit as well as she had. No one else slipped as seamlessly into the corners of his mind like that girl, Roxy Lalonde. She on the other hand, ignored the issue like she did best, by focusing her attention on a bottle of gin. One that Jake and Jane had brought as a gift and she wanted to hate them for it, but as far as they were concerned she didn't have a problem or an addiction and just liked to have a drink every now and then. Part of her felt like this was a payoff from Jake, mainly because of that sheepish smile he'd given her as they entered and the furtive, awkward glances he'd cast at her. His eyes never stayed on her for long, and mostly his gaze would focus on Jane, like he was afraid of forgetting how beautiful she was. Roxy had been more than happy to keep them both there for a drink, then another, and another until the bottle was just about empty, and they were all sloshed beyond reason and talking about getting married and having ten thousand babies. Dirk had found her alone, though, giggling and tapping away at her phone. Talking to someone who wasn't him. He knew he had exactly zero right to be jealous, but he was anyway, and it only served to fuel his self-loathing. When she heard him enter, she stowed her phone and crawled to the end of her bunk, and lay there, staring up at him with those big, glee filled eyes.  
"Welcome hooooome, Dirky." She spoke in a sing-song voice, and he was reminded that her accent only got stronger when she got this off her fucking tits, which only served to make her voice sound sweeter.  
"Sweet jesus, just how drunk are you?" There was a rare show of emotion in his voice, but Roxy didn't seem to notice.  
"Drunk enough." Her brows waggled once or twice as she lay there, giving him a coy look.  
"Come on, Lalonde. Get in a shower and get to bed."  
"Any excuse to get me outta my clothes huh?"   
He didn't respond this time, but hoisted her off the top bunk easily and planted her on her feet. She stumbled immediately and he caught her.  
"Ohhh, Strider. Catchin' me like some princely consort. Swoooooon." She put a hand to her forehead, went limp in his hold like she knew would piss him off, and by now it was obvious to the both of them that if he wanted her to sober up he'd have to do it himself. He dragged her indelicately towards the bathroom, Roxy giggling the whole way, and sat her on the sink.   
"Clothes off."  
"You first."  
Dirk sighed, the sound of a broken man, and looked away as he lifted her shirt over her head. Roxy had an uncanny way of making herself look like smaller, like a kid. Like someone who needed him. When Dirk finally looked back at her, He discovered that now had been one of those times. He couldn't help but feel those little pangs of affection, a need to protect her, and he was so lost in the thought he thought he'd misheard when she spoke.  
"Kiss me."   
"What?"  
"What are ya, deaf? I said kiss me, Strider."  
Dirk shook his head, a simple gesture in case she'd lost the wherewithal to understand words "I'm not gonna kiss you, Rox."  
"Kiss me." This time it was more of a pleading than a playful request.  
"You're drunk." He tried not to hear those low tones in her voice. They wouldn't make him bend to her will but they sure did make him sweat under the collar.  
"When am I not?"  
"Roxy-" It looked like Roxy was making a habit of shutting people up with her lips. Dirk didn't kiss her back, at least not with the certainty that Vriska had, and he was sure she didn't notice when he used this distraction to get her out of the rest of her clothes. He broke the kiss when she was completely liberated of her clothes and hefted her into the shower. Standing proved too much effort, after the third time she'd slipped and he reached out to catch her, and her skin was so slick she'd almost slipped right through his fingers, so she sat and washed herself very slowly, and he waited.  
When she was done, he dried her and dressed her and put her into bed, only stopping short of pressing a kiss to her forehead and reading her a bedtime story as he said goodnight. She drifted off almost instantly, and he climbed into his own bunk and stared at the bottom of hers until sleep claimed him, too.  
The next morning was no treat. Roxy woke to a pounding in her head and a sick feeling in her stomach, and the sound of Dirk moving shit around in their room with little to no regard for her hungover state. She sat up in her bed, groaned as she realized every second of the previous night, and was grateful when Dirk didn't look her way. Within seconds she was on her phone, shooting off texts to Jane and after a bit of back and forth she's literally no closer to feeling any better about the whole ordeal. Neither was Dirk. He looked in just as bad shape as Roxy. Dark circles rimmed his eyes, which weren't even hidden by his shades yet. Eventually He settled and sat on his bed, and she hung over the edge of her own, even as it flipped her stomach upside down and made her more ill, and stared him down with that intent stare she'd always give him when it was time for real talks.  
"We should talk, I know." He gave his hand a little wave, as if to dismiss the idea. He didn't want to talk. They didn't have to talk, they could have the whole conversation with a single look, but still, Roxy liked to talk.  
"I shouldn't have kissed you." She stated it like it was a fact. She wasn't asking for an apology, she was telling him.  
"No, that was stupid, but you were drunk. You tend to do stupid things when you're drunk."  
"You shouldn't have screwed Jake."  
"Let the record show that we never actually 'screwed'. And in any case, it doesn't matter. The two of them are leaving."  
"I know. Last night was their fucked up parting gift to me."  
When he spoke next, it was a quiet, pitiful murmur. "I shouldn't have bit back at you like that. When you caught us." She was quiet again. He looked up at her, her gaze was intense and he almost had to look away because he knew what she was thinking.  
"I wanna drift with you again."  
"You really think we can go back to that?"   
Roxy gave a resolute nod. "We're drift compatible, dumbass. That kinda connection doesn't just go away."  
Dirk was quiet. He wanted to say yes right away. He wanted to haul her off to the Valiant and take victory laps around the city, to be in her mind again, and to have her in his. Mainly he wanted her to feel how sorry he was, but nothing registered on his face. It didn't need to. He nodded. "Okay, we drift again. But what happens when some new hero type gets transferred in and I go weak at the fuckin knees like some pathetic fangirl?"  
"Then I snatch him up before you do."

science nerds III: revenge of the nerds  
This was it. The Kaiju hind-brain Sollux had got his hands on was in just about as perfect condition as one could get, and not be eaten by the thing it was wearing. Fresh in the fucking carcass and Sollux was not going to waste another second in merging his consciousness with that of a volitile alien. That's where Eridan found him. Fussing over his makeshift neural bridge beside the cadaver. The connection was set up. All he had to do was put on the helmet and press a button, but Eridan snatched it from his hands before he had the chance.  
"I know w-what you're tryin to do here, and I'm telling you; it might w-work for a fleetin minute but it's w-worth fuckin squat if you die in the process."  
Sollux could barely muster the energy to roll his eyes "Please, dickprince. I'm trying to make actual progress here, you give me back the helmet."  
"You're not listenin to me, you moron. I'm tryin to say..." Eridan scowled, that creased his brow and made him look like his head might actually pop. "I'm tryin to say that if you INSIST on this suicidal endeavor, then I'll help."  
Sollux opened his mouth, and waited for another scathing remark to come out, but it didn't and he gave Eridan a look that, best translated to words would sound something along the lines of 'what the fuck?'  
"We'll share the neural load." Eridan pressed a few buttons on the screen in front of him, re-calibrated the machine. "That's how the Jaeger pilots do it."  
"Wait, you would do that for me? With me?"  
"The only other choice I see is gettin exterminated with the rest of the human population. So, yes."


End file.
